Another day, another low-production bespoke supercar for the ultra-wealthy. The Capricorn 01 Zagato is the newest entry into the expensive analog sports car space, priced at $3.4 million and limited to just 19 examples. With a Zagato-bodied, mid-engine design and a Ford-sourced, 5.2-liter supercharged V8 making 887 horsepower, it’s objectively very cool – but it lacks any real appeal for me, since I’ll probably never see one, much less drive one.
And so, I was ready to pass on this car and look for other news this morning, but then I saw the Capricorn’s gearbox. It’s a gated manual—pretty cool but not terribly notable, as many cars in this space now have manual transmissions. What’s weird is that it’s a five-speed, not a six- or seven-speed. Now you have my attention.
Being a $3.4-million car, using a five-speed instead of a more traditional six-speed obviously wasn’t a matter of cost savings. According to Capricorn CEO Robertino Wild, opting for fewer gears was a calculated choice. From the release:
“This choice provides a more emotional, immersive, mechanical shifting experience that allows the driver to really feel and fully experience the rev changes, and the muscular nature of the engine working through its broad powerband. It is a decision that deliberately prioritizes driver engagement and passion over the need for more gears,” affirms Wild.
If there’s any engine that could work just fine with fewer gears, it’s this one. Though Capricorn doesn’t say it, I bet its engine is based on the V8 found in the most recent Shelby GT500 and F-150 Raptor R. The extra power and torque (737 pound-feet in this application) come from Capricorn’s own rotating assembly, with a new crankshaft, new pistons, and new connecting rods. There’s also a new cooling system, a dry-sump oiling system, a new exhaust, and a new air intake.
If you’ve ever driven a vehicle with this engine, you know it has torque everywhere. Whether you’re at idle, cruising at 4,000 rpm, or right at redline, there are explosive levels of thrust at your right foot just begging to be unleashed. Wild says as much above, pointing out the “broad powerband” the engine delivers. While the performance might objectively be better with a sixth forward gear, it would also mean more shifting and less time experiencing the entire powerband in one go. “The car is designed for the joy of driving, not for setting records,” Wild says in the release.
This sort of sentiment is purely subjective, of course. Some people love to stay in the same gear and slowly climb to redline, reveling in all the sounds and torque their engine powerbands have to offer. But just as many people love the act of shifting gears, even if it means constant hand- and footwork (I constantly catch myself going up and down gears in my Miata unnecessarily, just so I can grab an extra heel-toe or two).
The gearbox itself has another cool feature: It’s a dogleg five-speed. That means first gear is down and to the left (hanging off the H-pattern in the shape of a dog’s leg). Reverse is where first gear would normally be, and in this case, it even has a lock-out tab so you don’t accidentally go from first into reverse when you don’t want to. It’s a neat little add-on that reminds me of the Lamborghini Countach’s gated shifter, which had the same feature:
The five-speed is built by CIMA, the same Italian firm responsible for supplying gearboxes to other low-production hypercars, including Gordon Murray, Pagani, Hennessey, and Glickenhaus. I’ve reached out to see if this transmission is a new unit developed at Capricorn’s behest, or a modified version of the six-speed transaxle you might find in a car like the T.33. Either way, it’s an interesting highlight on a car that might otherwise not stand out in an ever-increasing pool of low-volume, high-priced performance cars.
Because otherwise, the rest of the Capricorn is standard ultra-expensive supercar stuff. The monocoque, subframes, and body panels are all made from carbon fiber, resulting in a curb weight under 2,645 pounds. For some context, the 01 Zagato is lighter than a Toyota GR86, yet has nearly four times the power. Five speeds or six, this thing is going to be incredibly quick.
The car should handle well, too. It’s got a double-wishbone suspension setup all around with pushrods, meaning the spring and damper units, sourced from Bilstein, are inboard to improve weight balance. The steering setup employs a method made popular by the Gordon Murray T.50:
“We designed a bespoke electric power-assisted steering system for the car equipped with a small motor that provides assistance at low speeds but switches off completely at higher speeds. This gives a direct, purely mechanical connection between the driver, the wheels and the road.”
I’m sure the 19 owners of this 01 Zagato will have a lovely time driving this car. If I ever see one, I’ll be oogling the cabin for a sight at that shifter.
Top graphic images: Capricorn
“Power comes from a 5.2-litre V8, which is actually the Ford Voodoo unit used in the spicy Mustangs; Capricorn then dry sumps it, adds its own internals (crank, rods, pistons), supercharges it and sorts its own software.” via Pistonheads
737 lbft of torque is going to make this car traction limited all the time in a traditional first gear ratio, so I guess it makes sense to just remove it and start in second gear instead. You get the dogleg for free then too, and you can advertise this cost down as a feature!
/cynical
All my cars have six speed manual gearboxes, and the only time I ever use fifth gear is when I’m stuck behind someone in traffic who is going too slowly to pull sixth, but a bit to fast for forth. So the low thirty mph range, which isn’t a typical speed limit here. I skip straight from an accelerating gear to a cruising gear, and that’s almost never fifth. I wouldn’t miss it at all as long as the lower four gears get me to go-straight-to-jail speed and top gear gets me economy.
You know, I feel you could probably put one of these together yourself for a whole lot cheaper – Ford sells those engines (or go to the bowtie for the real discount option) and 5 speed manuals aren’t exactly unobtanium. Off the top of my head, I don’t know what I’d use for the donor car, but this has a weird sort of “Louis Vuitton sells a t-shirt” type vibe.
“this has a weird sort of “Louis Vuitton sells a t-shirt” type vibe”
Or Mary Pong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgy57WqQH_Q
When EVs ruined the supercar benchmark wars, I was hoping this would be the result. Focus on delivering something that looks like a few million bucks and is enjoyable to drive, leave the baseball stats and racetrack tech for the nerds and professionals.
I don’t catch myself doing that, I do it intentionally. Yeah, my 0-60 times are slower when I shift more than I need to, but it’s fun and that’s way more important. The fact that I can get to any legal speed in my area in two gears is cool, but sometimes I want to do more than mash the loud pedal.
Remember giving my sis and her husband a ride in our Integra back in the 80’s and hearing them say “you sure move that stick around alot.”
The badge just looks like a “C”. That was the perfect opportunity for an awesome goat badge that could be either badass or comical because goats are great like that. Color’s nice and I like the idea of EPAS disconnect. I wish there were a simple way to implement an electronic clutch like an AC compressor on my car’s EPAS.
I think the 5 speed is probably a good idea as it has plenty of power and, with good gearing, I think 5s are nicer with better shifter spacing and less speed overlap, but I happen to hate a large number of gears (this mostly applies to automatics—I even prefer a decent CVT to the frustrating experience of 8+speed autos) and peaky engines that need them. Doesn’t really matter, though, as these wouldn’t get driven even if there was a place to use something with that much power and that little visibility and clearance.
You sound exactly like me. I too prefer a 5 speed as I tend to use every gear where as 6 speeds I often find that I’ll skip a gear as it’s just not needed. To me the best automatics have 4-5 speeds. One of my favorite driving experiences was a CVT Nissan Cube. That Cube with its full CVT that didn’t have stupid fake shifts was so much fun to rubber band their the ratios.
I think it’s even worse when the ratios are short and there’s more overlap between gears.
It looks strangely close to the Ford GT…? Especially in the side view
Yes, the gated manual is cool. And that shade of green is nice (presumably it comes in any color the buyer wants at that price). Still, I barely manage to retain any details about cars in the few-hundred-thousand-dollar and up price range, let alone those that cost millions of dollars each. This is not a criticism of covering such cars, but rather an admission of inability on my part.
Wait, is this the same Capricorn Group that briefly bought the Nürburgring?
You had me at the title, but then you disappointed me.
all hail banned F1 technology
(the CVT)
Interesting car. I don’t see why it costs what it costs, but I suppose part of the price is exclusivity.
No issue with the 5-speed, but having driven doglegs, they are neater in theory than practice – my brain is programmed for going straight down for the 1-2 shift, so going up and over is…unnatural.
I feel like they’re neat in theory only because they’re different. I can’t think of a reason I would actually want to drive one, even theoretically.
It’s meant to be because when driving at speed (especially in racing) you do the 2-3 shift more than the 1-2, so the quicker shift is prioritised for the more common gear changed
The light weight chassis is awesome but 3.4mil USD with basically a Ford crate motor is a bit over the top. Nelson engines sells a 1000hp version of this engine (Mahle pistons, Manley rods, etc) for 40 grand.
Odd choice, but whatever, glad it’s a stick.
Though I do wonder if at this point many of the target market for wheeled billionaire’s codpieces can actually drive a stick? And European buyers all want to pretend they are Ayrton Senna with their flappy paddle autoboxes anyway.
What do you mean, drive? Like out of the garage display I keep it in?
LOL – an even more apt description.
I like this. It’s lightweight.
But I’ll have a lot more interest if they build them to be mass produced, below the cost of the average new car, with widely available parts, good fuel economy, and low maintenance requirements/costs.
Tired of this sort of performance and style of vehicle being gatekept.
The Ariel Atom is a good starting point, at least. Needs a streamlined body shell.
Honestly, I’d be excited to get just the transmission and steering rack under 6 figures, even if it’s slapped into a generic coupe and mated to a generic engine.
The problem is fundamentally simple – any idiot can make a $3.4M supercar. The only hard part is getting the money together to do it. It takes a freaking genius to make a GOOD affordable car. It’s a much, much, much more difficult task than bolting a bloody great big engine into something lightweight with big sticky tires and making it go really fast for the short distances this sort of thing is ever actually driven.
Alec Issigonis impresses me FAR more than Enzo Ferrari or Ferruccio Lamborghini. Though Ferdinand Porsche maybe most of all, as he managed to make a fantastic “People’s Car” and then take the bones of it and turn them into some pretty darned good, and at the time, reasonably affordable sports cars too.
Many of the most cherished sports cars started out on RWD economy car platforms.
Basically, what I’m asking for is a Miata coupe without the Miata’s extraneous bullshit and shrunken down a bit more. Low drag prioritized over looks. As much power as the components composing the car can handle. It shouldn’t take more than 300 horsepower to hit 200 mph, with just the bare minimum downforce required for basic stability, and no more. One could inexpensively and reliably get that power out of a naturally-aspirated 2.0L 4-cylinder with ease these days. Manual transmission, of course, the conventional kind, maybe even make it gated, and none of this expensive double-clutch bullshit. Front and rear independent suspension, nothing fancy, like a Miata. Doesn’t need wheels any larger than 15″, and may be able to get away with 13″, with the tires having thick, meaty sidewalls.
AC? Radio? Power steering/power windows? Screens? Heated/cooled leather seats? Infotainment? Heated steering wheel? Power locks/mirrors? Nagging devices? Doesn’t need any of that crap. Any of it should be purely optional. At its most fundamental, it should be low-cost, simple, economical, easily serviced/repaired, point A to point B transportation, that can punch well above its weight on a race track when you want it to.
Offer it in diesel and electric options as well. And in addition to the 2-seater sports car, build a…
-4-door RWD hot hatch
-Nissan Versa-sized sedan
-SMALL pickup truck
-Kei-sized minivan
…all on the same platform to broaden its appeal and sell more units, keeping all of them basic, RWD, no bullshit, go-fast machines as well. The sedan and minivan especially should be as aerodynamically slippery as possible, and the truck should be single cab and just barely able to fit a stack of 4’x8′ sheets of plywood in the bed with the tailgate up.
ALL of the basic gasoline-ICE models and perhaps the EVs should come in under $25k and share the same internals. None of the EVs should need anything larger than a 40 kWh pack.
It can’t be that hard as long as one gives up greed.
Do you actually exist in same reality as the rest of us, or are you from a slightly alternate dimension in which bespoke components are cheaper than mass-manufactured?
Also, 300hp out of an NA 2.0 4 pot. So you’re under the impression a 10,500RPM redline 2.0 4 cylinder is “inexpensive”. What plane of existence are you from
Honda’s VTEC engines come very close 15 years ago. Don’t need a 10500 rpm redline to do it, maybe 7500-8000.
the current production engine record for specific output from a 2.0L 4 cylinder is the F20C in the JDM AP1 S2000. It made 247hp and 153ft/lbs of torque. In order to achieve 300hp, that same engine would need to rev to 10,500 RPM.
OR, you somehow expect an NA 2.0 to make 200ft/lbs of torque while revving to 8k.
Please, find me a maker who, in your own words, inexpensively and reliably, make a high revving engine better than this. I invite you!
According to Ariel’s website, the Atom 4 starts at $83,750. Now, who knows what their profit margin is, but I’d be surprised it it was 200%. Dunno how you get that below $25k.
You also seem to be suggesting a lot of features that most consumers would want. A screen will be legally necessary for the backup camera, at which point, why not throw in the rest of the infotainment that 99% of buyers will want?
I also don’t know where you live that you can say with 100% certainty that you will never, ever want A/C. With climate change, temperature swings are becoming more extreme, and it’s hotter in many places than it ever was. I certainly would never, ever consider a car without it, and I imagine economies of scale means it’s standard for a reason. Same with other features like radio (and who knows if the AM radio legislation is still in discussion or what), power locks, and power windows.
I doubt you’ll find many people wanting to drive without music or easy GPS access, either.
Also, it looks like the Atom is a kit car that requires final assembly by the buyer. So that eliminates a ton of potential buyers (including me) who’d just want to buy a finished car, not to mention it doesn’t appear to have airbags, which would be legally required for a ready-to-drive production car.
I also doubt interest in the diesel version could ever exceed the sale price delta it would need due to lower production.
And you chose a less efficient gearbox than a well-designed CVT?
LOL. If wishes were horses dreamers could ride. You have described a car that about seven people in the country would actually buy new, and 1000 “enthusiasts” with no money would want to buy used someday. And can’t be built and sold for less than $25K in the modern world. Roll back regulations 25 years and maybe you have a shot, at least for the ICE version. Greed has very little to do with it – there is no money to be made in cheap cars.
Though I do agree that there absolutely should be a coupe version of the Miata, and I find it baffling that there isn’t one, and never has been in the US. Or find a decent engine to put in the Toyobaru. But I would bet that at their +/- $30K base prices, they lose money on every base model they sell, then make it up in the higher trim levels so overall the two programs are likely barely profitable.
I would like you to google the MSRP of a brand new Ariel Atom 4.
It’s a low-volume car with a low-volume price tag.
And in your fantasy, you believe this imaginary car of yours would be anything but low volume?
The idea is to use the same platform to mass produce economy cars/trucks/vans. If you can get the volume high enough, the cost can come down.
If a Mitsubishi Mirage was low-volume, it too would cost possibly into the 6 figures.
Dang, this thing is pretty.
And a great colour
Five speeds are plenty. More than sufficient.
It reminds me of the time that an automotive magazine – I think it may have been C&D, and I of course don’t have back issues let alone an index to check on this – determined experimentally that with sufficient torque, more than one gear can be superfluous. They found that their Dodge Viper could go from a dead stop to 130mph in third gear alone. The only gears you need in a Viper – or perhaps also a Capricorn Zagato – are 3rd and Reverse.
Also, fun fact: “Capricorn 01 Zagato” literally means, “Goat horn, first edition, plastered.” There. That’s in your head now, too.
Every 5spd I’ve drive had me wishing for a sixth gear.
I’ve always felt that six speeds is one too many for a V8. Every one I’ve had, I find myself constantly skipping gears. My first car was a Firebird with a V8 and a Borg Warner T5, and going through all five gears in sequence just felt natural.
It’s when you find that cruising speed that jives with the gearing that you appreciate it. Regardless if it’s 5 or 6.
But, also, when you’ve got some awkward ratios – it throws it all away and it feels awful. Even if you’ve got 6 of ’em.
Toyota’s 4.0 with 6MT left me questioning the ratios and wanting another. Basic manoeuvres, such as turning a corner at low speeds, I wanted to be somewhere between 1st and 2nd – something that I never felt driving any other vehicle.
Sideprofile, specially the window area reminds me of a Kriegsmarine. I dig the look of this a lot.
It’s definitely a choice – dogleg boxes are very cool, but they don’t make any sense if you have sixth hanging off the end.
Also, five well spaced ratios are probably better than six where the six have been chosen specifically for fuel economy or to game 0-60 numbers.
I’m reminded of a rental Hyundai I had about 20 years ago where it was geared to do 60 in second, but for fuel economy purposes the gap to third was enormous. It was an extremely unsatisfying drive.
6th hanging off the end makes a lot of sense when you take regulations and street use into account: Drive-by noise regs require that a car be below a certain volume in 2nd at a certain speed, which is usually the limiting factor for why so many cars have ridiculously tall 2nd gears. Likewise, highway fuel economy can be improved by having a super-tall gear to cruise at the lowest possible engine speed.
So it’s very hard to make a car that wants to be between 3rd and 4th on track, since 2nd is so tall. That means the advantage of the dog-leg, that it’s easier to shift between those gears, remains. Likewise, 6th is geared for fuel efficiency, not V-max, so you’d have 5th as your highest gear for track use. With 6th hanging out the side, you have two straight gates for 2/3 and 4/5, with R/1 hanging off one side for pit/grid use, and 6th on the other side for street use.
If it wasn’t for drive-by noise and fuel economy targets, it would make more sense to gear 6th for top speed, and gear 1st/2nd down for better launches with 3rd and 4th as the corner exit gears and 6th for top speed.
Gearing is for sure a compromise. My daily is old enough that the noise isn’t so much of a concern, so it’s geared so that peak HP in 5th is also top speed. The gears are nicely spaced out for a spirited drive, but 3500rpm on the highway at 70 is no fun.
With 887hp, you could probably get away with a 3MT 🙂
I’m slightly annoyed with most 6MTs, depending on the spacing of the gears and the engine. With an AT, I’ve just learned that I don’t like 8+ speeds. It’s all just way too frenetic in normal driving, especially if it’s a turbo and you don’t want to be at 1,000 RPM and trying to accelerate.
” With an AT, I’ve just learned that I don’t like 8+ speeds.”
An my experience for regular ICE vehicles I’ve rented, 6 speeds is enough. Going up to 8 or more speeds and it gets annoying with how often it shifts.
This is one of the key things that makes modern hybrids and modern EVs better than regular vehicles with those 8+ speed transmissions.
When I’m next to a car with one of those transmissions in my C-Max, when it turns green, I just smoothly pull away… no frantic shifting.. while that other vehicle has some delay between the time the person steps on it and the vehicle actually moving.
On a related note… when I take public transit, for the same reason, riding on one of the hybrid or electric buses is much more pleasant than riding on one of the conventional diesel buses with their hard-shifting transmissions and the often-jerky acceleration they have.
A couple of years ago, I had an Acura RDX loaner that had a 10-speed AT and it was pretty annoying. I imagine it would be more expensive to eventually replace or service as well.
Driving my 5-speed 90’s sport sedan on the freeway, I was always looking for another gear. I guess if you don’t want a relaxed highway gear, that makes sense. This car isn’t made for traveling, so what the heck!
Conversely, some cars feel perfectly happy at almost any revs. I can’t tell you how many times I looked down at the tach on my Civic Hybrid to realize, oops, we’re doing 65 in 4th. It didn’t feel strained at all, that little engine was quite comfortable at that speed. There was a little extra oomph with the lower gear, and that was all. I think it would have felt about the same at 80 as it did 65, just humming along.
My 2001 5M Jetta TDI definitely needed a sixth gear in Texas.
Another vaporware supercar.
Yawn.